Telephone substation-registering system.



Patented Mar. H, I902. J. D. HOBBS.

TELEPHONE SUBSTATION REGISTERING SYSTEM.

(Application filed Jan 26, 1901.:

2 Shee ts Slveet I,

(No Model.)

3 Mb b U J WITNESSES: @117 O K k lmf ATTORIN EY N0. 695,|05. v iatented Mar. ll, I902.

\ J. D. HOBBS. TELEPHONE SUBSTATION REGISTERSNG SYSTEM.

-Applicntion filed Jan. 26, X901.)

2 Sheets-8heet 2.

(No Model.)

WITNESSESt ATTORN EY Ym: NORIRIS PETERS do. d 'YQ-UTHO.WASHINGTON, n, c.

Nrrnn Frames PATENT Urrrcnt JEFFERSON D. HOBBS, OF JERSEY CITY, NEWV JERSEY.

TELEPHONE SUBSTATION REGISTERING SYSTEM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 695,105, dated March 11, 1902 Application filed January 26, 1901. Serial No. 44,323. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JEFFERSON D. Hones, a citizen of theUnited States, and a resident of Jersey City, Hudson county, State of New Jersey, have invented a new and useful Telephone Substation Registering System, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part thereof.

In the usual telephone system when a subscriber or other person uses an instrument on a so-called party-line there is no means for positively indicating or registering the number of the instrument used. Therefore in order to ascertain the number of such instrument for the purpose of charging the call or message the central-office operator asks such information of the party using the instrument. Under these circumstances if the user of the instrument or substation gives the number of another instrument on the same line, as is often the case, the central-office operator, having no means of ascertaining Whether the number so given is correct or not, charges the call against the instrument designated, and so causes more or less trouble and annoyance in the settlement of the different subscribers accounts when the discrepancy between the number of calls. made and charged for is brought to the attention of the subscriber.

Having the above facts in mind, it has been the object of this invention to provide a simple and effective means for automatically registering the number of an instrument when the same is used, and thereby avoiding possibility of fraud and deceit being practiced, as referred to. This object I secure by means of the new and novel construction and combinations of parts, as hereinafter set forth in detail, and pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view illustrating a telephone system embodying my invention, showing the same arranged for two subscribers and a central oflice, with the proper wire connections of the same. Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail view of a part of one of the substations or subscribers instruments, showing a different position of the parts from that shown in Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a sectional view through line 3 3 of Fig. 2.

In said drawings, 1 1 represent suitable frames or boards, upon each of which the several parts comprising the substation or subscribers instrument are adapted to be located, and each of these frames in the present instance and for the purpose of illustrating my invention may be considered as being located in different subscribers homes or offices The several parts at the right of these frames and to be hereinafter referred to are supposed to be located in a central office or station. Upon each of the said frames, 2 indicates the telephone-transmitter, and 3 the telephone-receiver, and, in the central office, 4 indicates a spring-jack, 5 a plug for insertion into said spring-jack, 6 a transmitter, and 7 a receiver. All of these parts are of the usual and wellknown construction.

The substation-receiver 3 when not in use is adapted to be supported upon the outer forked end of the usual receiver-supporting lever 8, which latter, in the present instance shown, is pivotally supported at a point between its ends upon the frame 1 at 9 and is arranged with the end of its inner arm extending into contact with a yielding or spring plate 10. This plate 10, which is in the telephonecircuit, is attached at its upper end to the frame 1 and is formed with a part thereof arranged in the arc of a circle described from the fulcrum of the lever 8, so as to conform to the path of movement of the engaging point of said lever when it is raised and lowered upon the removal or placing in position of the receiver at the outer end of the lever, and in order to insure the continued contact of the said plate 10 with the engaging point of the lever 8 it is constrncted to normally press against said point. In the present instance shown the plate 10 is provided with two parallel longitudinal grooves 12 12, which merge into each other adjacent to each end of the curved portion of the plate, as clearly shown in Fig. 3, and form a continuous guideway in which the end of the lever moves, the end of one groove being out out or depressed where it crosses the end of the other, as indicated at 13 in Fig. 3, so that as the point of the lever reaches the end of one groove it will be received into the other by the forward pressure of the plate, and so be caused to travel therein during its movement in the opposite direction. In that groove within which the end of the lever travels when being moved upward .by the weight of the receiver hung on its outer end are seated one or more bushings of non-conducting material, as at 14. These bushings act to break or-' interrupt the circuit as the end ofthe lever passes thereover, and so cause the relay 42 in the central office to release the armature 42', and thereby close the local circuit in which the bell 15 and register 41 are located, so as to operate the same to indicate the said break in the circuit. In this manner by employing the proper number of bushings and arranging the same at the proper distances apart any desired number may be indicated in the central office. For instance, as shown in the drawings, the bushings are arranged with a relatively wide space between the first three and with a narrower space between the last two, thus causing the first two rings of the bell 15 to occur at greater intervals apart than the last two, and so plainly indicate the number as 112. It will of course be obvious that the different num bers of the instruments may be provided for by the proper number and arrangement of the bushings.

As a feature of my invention the number of the instrument used is caused to be indicated in the central office by the weight of the receiver lowering the outer end of the lever 8 when hung thereon after the user has finished his conversation. In this manner the time occupied in indicating to the central office the number of the instrument used does not interfere in any way with the use of the instrument. It will of course be understood that the bushings might be arranged in that groove of the plate 10 in which the end of the lever travels when moving downward, so as to cause the number of the instrument to be indicated to central when the receiver is removed from the lever; but this method is objectionable for the reason, as before referred to, that it delays the use of the instrument.

In order that the upward movement of the inner end of the lever 8 in moving past the bushings 14 shall be sufficiently slow to cause the timing of the rings occasioned by the breaks in the circuit to be clear and distinct, I have supported a bellows 16 on the frame 1 in a position below the lever 8, which offers sufficient resistance to the latter to cause it to move with the desired slowness. The lever is moved quicklyin the opposite direction, however, when the receiver is removed therefrom by means of a spring 17, which is secured at one end upon the support 18, which carries the bellows, and arranged with its opposite end bearing upward against the under side of the lever. The upper side of. the bellows is also attached to the upper arm of this spring, so as to be opened or expanded thereby, as shown in Fig. 2. Any suitable means for regulating the movement of the lever 8 other than the bellows 16, as shown and described, may be employed without departure from my invention.

I will now describe the action of the parts as electrically controlled by referring to the same, according to the manner in which they are used when the service is being operated by a subscriber, first, however, referring to the circuit as it is when the instrument is not in use. For instance, when the instrument is not in use and the receiver is hung upon the lever 8 the circuit passes from the battery 21 through the wire 22, the spring-plate 10, the lever 8, the wires 23, 24, and 25 to the bindingpost 25, and from the latter through the wire 26 to the next subscribers instrument, in which the circuit passes through correspondingly-indicated parts to the return-wire 27, through which latter the circuit is completed. When the receiver is now removed from the lever 8, the inner end of the latter moves downward in the inner groove of the plate 10 and moves a laterally-projecting pin 28 on one side of the lever into contact with a curved portion 29 of the ground-wire 30, thereby completing the circuit through the latter wire, the wire 22, battery 21, wire 31, spring 32, contact-piece 33, wire 34, drop 35, and central-office groundwire 36. When the circuit is thus completed through the drop, the latter is caused to fall in the usual manner and so notify the central office. After being so notified the central operator inserts the plug 5 into the springjack 4, thus cutting out the drop 35 and office ground by the raising of the spring 32 from the contact-piece 33 and closing the circuit metallically through the central-office telephone in the usual manner, it being understood at the same time that the inner arm of the lever B has moved downward from contact with the substation ground-wire 30 and its outer arm has moved upward and caused a wedge-shaped projection 37 thereon to engage with the lower spring end 38 of the wire 24 and move the same from contact with the adjacent end of the wire 25, as shown in Fig. 2, thereby cutting ofi the circuit through the wire 25 and bringing the instrument into circuit through the wire 39, in which is located an induction-coil 40. After the user of the instrument finishes with the same and hangs the receiver upon the lever 8 the latter is operated by the weight of the receiver to move its inner end upward in the outer groove 12 of the plate 10 and over the bushings 14 therein, and thereby cause the number of the instrument to be automatically indicated in the central office, as before described.

The central office appliances, comprising the bell 15, register 41, relay 42, and battery 43,are all of usual construction and operation, as shown in my prior patent, No. 579,482, and therefore will not require a further detailed description herein. In the present instance, however, I have located a condenser 44 in the operators circuit, so that when the plug 5 is inserted into the spring-jack, the said condenser being in the operato'rs circuit prevents the latter from shunting the relay, and thereby allows central to receive a call from any other instrument on the circuit other than the one being used.

Having thus set forth a practical embodiment of my invention, 1 do not wish to be understood as confining myself to the particular details of construction and combinations of parts as set forth, as the same maybe more or less materially modified without departure from the spirit of the invention. For instance, the usual telephone-transmitter arm might be adapted as a substitute of the lever 8 as a means to indicate and register the number of the subscribers instrument through the medium of the mechanism as described.

My invention as herein shown is applied to a telephone system; but it will be obvious that the same might be applied to a messenger-call or any other signaling system of a like character.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In asignalin g systen1,tl1e combination of, a circuit having an indicator located therein in the central office, and a circuit-breaker located therein at a substation, provided with insulating surface-sections corresponding to the number of the substation, mechanism in the substation circuit adapted to move in contact with the said circuit-breaker for the purpose of interrupting the circuit, and thereby operating thecentral-oflice indicator to designate the number of the substation, the speed of movement of said mechanism being pneumatically controlled.

2. In a signaling system,the combinatiomof a circuit having an indicator therein at the central oftice, and a'circuit-breaker therein at a substation, provided with insulating surface-sections corresponding with the number of the substation,areceiver-supporting mechanism in the substation-circuit,adapted,when actuated by the weight of the receiver, to move over the said circuit-breaker, and pneumatical means for controlling the speed of movement of said receiver-supporting mechanism, when the same is being actuated by the weight of the lever, substantially as set forth.

3. In a signaling system,the combination, of a circuit having an indicator therein in the central ofiice, and a circuit-breaker therein at a substation, provided with insulating surface-sections corresponding with the number of the substation, the receiver-supporting lever in the substation-circuit having one end arranged to move over thesaid circuit-breaker when operated by the weight of the receiver thereon,and a bellows'for regulating the speed of movement of said lever when being moved under the weight of the receiver, for the purpose set forth.

4. In a signaling system,the combination,of circuit having an indicator therein in the central office,a plate in the substation-circuit hav-' ing two connecting-guideways one of which is provided with a circuit-breaker therein provided with insulating surface-sections corresponding with the number of the substation, and the receiver-supporting lever in the substation-circuit having one end extending into said guideway and being movable over the said circuit-breaker therein whenoperated in one direction, for the purpose set forth.

5. In asignaling system,the combination,of a circuit having an indicator therein. in the central ofitice, the receiver-supporting lever in'the substation-circuit, and a plate also located in the substation-circuit normally bearing against said lever with a yielding pressure and being provided with two parallel grooves connecting with each other adjacent to their opposite ends in which the end of the said lever travels when raised and lowered, one of said grooves being provided with a circuit-breaker located thereinprovided with insulating surface-sections corresponding with the number of the substation so as to interrupt the circuit as the lever passes the'reover, for the purpose set forth.

JEFFERSON D. HOBBS.

Witnesses:

A. W. CHRISTIE, JOHN J. MOORE. 

